The present invention relates to a driver installing system for electronic devices connected to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).
Conventionally, a multifunction peripheral (hereinafter, referred to as an MFP) has been known. The MFP is a device having a plurality of functions such as a printer function, a scanner function and a facsimile function. Such an MFP may be connected to a terminal device, which is connected to a network such as the LAN, and used as a local device of the terminal device. Optionally, the MFP may be used as a network device which is used by a plurality of terminal devices, functioning as clients, which are connected to the network using a TCP/IP. In such a case, each client uses the MFP in accordance with a sharing function provided by an OS (operating system) installed in the terminal device (hereinafter, such a terminal device will be referred to as a server) to which the MFP is connected.
In order to enable the client connected to the network to use the MFP, necessary settings including the setting of the IP address thereof should be made in the MFP. In each client, driver software corresponding to respective functions of the MFP should be installed, and necessary settings including the setting of the IP address of the MFP should be done in each of the drivers corresponding to respective functions of the MFP.
Regarding the printer function and facsimile function, the operating system generally provides a sharing function so that the installation of the driver software in each client computer is facilitated.
The sharing function is a function with which, under a network circumstance, a file in one of the clients or a server and/or a peripheral device such as a printer is made usable by another client connected to the same network. The shared function is a basic function provided in the network system such as the LAN. With use of the sharing function, the clients can use the shared printer as if it is directly connected to each client.
With use of this sharing function, when a client attempts to connect to the printer (or the facsimile device) functioning as a “shared” device, the printer driver (or the facsimile driver) having been installed in the server is automatically installed in the client.
When such an MFP is used as the network device, if various settings related to a certain function (which will be referred to as a first function) are made in a client, a program interface for using the first function, which is provided by an operating system installed to the client, can be used to control the first function.
For example, when the operating system installed in the client is Windows® and the first function of the MFP is a printer function, if the settings for using the printer have been made in the client, the printer can be controlled from the client using a printer API (Application Program Interface) provided by the Windows®.
When the MFP is used as the network device and has a plurality of functions, for example, a first function and a second function, even though the first function is used as the network device, the second function may not be used as the network device. In such a case, various settings for the second function should be made in each client in order to control the MFP from each client, which requires a user for troublesome operations.
It may be possible to use the MFP not as the network device but as a local device for each terminal (i.e., each client has its own MFP). However, practically, such a configuration is sometimes redundant and generally too expensive to provide the MFP for each terminal.